The Best Wedding Gift I Gave Myself

The months, weeks and days leading up to your wedding can be an emotional roller coaster. You want to savor each moment of the planning, but you are trying to get to the anticipated morning after, knowing you have begun your adventure with your husband. Michelle is a friend of ours here at Méldeen.

Her words always make us reach deep in ourselves and reflect the areas we haven’t come to terms with. be inspired by her personal day-of journey and follow her on her blog.

The Best Wedding Gift I Gave Myself

Michelle Pimm

Once the ring was on my finger something changed. In that memorable blur-of-a-moment I was suddenly no longer someone’s girlfriend. I was his fiancé. And six months later, I would be his wife. An entire network of friends and family found out and everything changed. It alarmed me. It thrilled me. More so, it made me nervous to lose my last name. A name that I had written down countless times in my life. I’m an avid follower of tradition but this decision did not come easy. In my mind, taking his last name meant I’d be losing a bit of myself and all the years it took to love the name and person behind it. A new name also meant that I’d be a wife. The pressure of getting that right also seemed daunting. By no means did I have a signature dish and plants lasted mere days under my watch.

In the months leading up to my wedding, I became obsessed with the thought of pleasing everyone. Family members bombard me with suggestions and request to have relatives attend my union that I hadn’t seen in decades. Small details suddenly became large decisions. There were opinions. So, so many opinions. Thoughts of taking my husbands name lingered in the back of my head. I knew how much it meant to him, but I had to be okay with the resolution. So I made my last decision. It was to enjoy the process and overcome pressure of pleasing others.

It might have been best wedding gift I gave myself. I knew in my heart that everyone meant well. Everyone wants us to be happy. This big event is really about two people. Us. Getting married. It was that simple.

So I decided to let the pressure go to enjoy the moments.

I married the guy that slipped a ring on my finger in that blurry moment. And I took his name because I wanted to. I knew I was the same girl. Another ring was slipped on my finger and everything changed and it was perfect.